Learning how to bring out the best in others is one of the most important things you will ever do as a leader.
Once you have confidence in yourself and feel you’re on the road to being the person you want to be, it’s time to focus on bringing out the best in others. Here are some of the top ways you can empower those you serve as leader:
Appraise them carefully. The best way to start is with evaluation. If you give inexperienced people too much responsibility or authority too soon, you could be setting them up to fail. On the other hand, if you move too slowly, people will feel bored, discouraged or demoralized. People genuinely want to succeed, and as a leader it’s your job to appraise and evaluate them so you can equip them with what they need in order to develop.
Model the way. Even the most successful people expect their leaders to provide an example. You have the opportunity—and the obligation—to show people how to lead. Model the attitude, the work ethic and the standards you want to see in others.
Believe in their success. As a leader, you need to make people to believe they can succeed and show them that you want and expect them to. People need to hear that you believe in them. Tell them often that you know they are going to succeed and give them reinforcements as often as you can. Once people recognize that you genuinely want to see them do well and are committed to helping them, they will begin to believe they can accomplish what you give them to do.
Provide feedback. As a leader, it is your responsibility to give people honest, positive feedback and to mentor and coach them through their mistakes and misjudgments. Feedback should never feel like criticism but should communicate empathy and caring.
Give them power. Many people in leadership are willing to give others responsibility—they will gladly delegate tasks—but empowering others means sharing your power and ability to get things done. People become strong and effective only when they are given the opportunity to make decisions, act to solve problems and meet challenges. Offer public praise. Tell people publicly how much confidence you have in them. As you raise people up, show them your confidence in them and you will find how quickly they’ll live up to your expectations.
Give autonomy. The best way to see people succeed is to release them to continue on their own. Give them the skills to make decisions and succeed, then give them the autonomy to do it for themselves. Bringing out the best in others is a win all around—it frees you up as a leader to have more time for the important things, and it can increase the effectiveness of your team and company. Most of all, though, it’s the right thing to do.
Lead from within: When you bring out the best in others, you have an incredibly positive impact on the lives of the people you empower.
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